Thailand will continue to be the most preferred destination in Southeast Asia in the next two years as it represents good value for money, the Visa-Pata Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010 reports
The survey of 6,714 participants in 13 countries showed that Thailand was the top tourist destination in the region for UK and Australian tourists.

Some 52 percent of UK respondents said they were looking to visit Australia, 34 percent chose Thailand and 32 percent New Zealand. For Australian tourists, 43 percent preferred New Zealand, 39 percent Thailand and 32 percent Singapore.

Somboon Krobteeranon, country manager of Visa Thailand, said the intentions of international travellers to consider visiting Thailand in the next two years reflected a positive tourism outlook after the country had put much effort into restoring travellers' confidence after the unrest.

Travellers from the UK and Australia are likely to visit Thailand with their spouses or partners and prefer to stay at four-star hotels. They are also likely to spend more than US$2,000 per trip on average, stay 10-14 days and are willing to pay more for good food, cultural experiences and exotic destinations.

Juthaporn Rerngronasa, deputy governor for international marketing at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the UK market generated tourism revenue of 42 billion baht in 2009 and the length of stay was 16 days.

In the first nine months of this year, international tourist arrivals were 11.21 million, up 13.3 percent from the same period last year.

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